Diffusion of Buddhism in China DBQ

Buddhism started in India around the 16th century B.C.E., and after a while diffused to China in the first century of C.E.. People slowly converted to it. Many chinese people felt differently about the new religion, and others felt it was better than the one existing, and better for China as a whole. They then began to encourage conversion of religions. Then there were those guys. They didn't like Buddhism, they thought it was bad and tried to stop the diffusion.

The first, second, third, and fifth document all praise Buddism in a way. They speak proudly and nicely of it. The Buddha founded Buddhism, he said in his first sermon named "The Four Noble Truths" in the 5th centry B.C.E. that all things in life are driven by sorrow and passion. Since he did create the religion, he evidently spoke highly of it. There would probably be a lot more people against it if he didn't. Zhi Dun, a Chinese scholar, stated in document 2 that whomever follows Buddism will retrieve Nirvana at the end of their life. Nirvana is the "extinction of desire" and is good in Buddhism.

Another Chinese scholar, also liking Buddism, says when it's compared to Confucianism, that they cannot be compared and are completely opposite. This defense was stated in document 3. They say "To compare the sages of the Buddha would be like comparing a white deer to a unicorn, or a swallow to a phoenix". In his essay "On the Nature of Man", Zong Mi also states that both religions shouldn't be compared. He says they're both taught differently, and have different lessons and aproaches.

According to Zong Mi, neither religions are better than one another, and they're both to be observed with respect. Zong Mi was a leading Buddhist scholar and was favored by the Tang imperial household. There are of course several different views of Buddhism in China though. The different documents show different reactions. Han Yu, a Confucian scholar,...

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...Group 1 - Buddhism brought Chinese people good things and there are people who like Buddhism during the period of instability and disunity which Buddhism was spreading and gaining popularity Doc 1, Doc 4, Doc 6
Group 2 - Confucians in China and the Tang dynasty didn’t like Buddhism - Doc 2, Doc 3, Doc 4, Doc 5
When Buddhism which was spreaded by southernization in the first century, was gaining popularity in China during about 220 CE to 570 CE, which was when China experienced a period of instability and disunity or the war and rebellion state. After the spread of Buddhism, the imperial structure was finally restored. It’s clearly shown that Buddhism actually brought good things to happen which caused China to restore, however, the Tang dynasty especially the confucians didn’t appreciate it.
Buddhism brought good things to China and there are people who favor in Buddhism, as we can see in Document 1, 4 and 6. Buddhism makes people behave and portray as good people, and people are happy with Buddhism for their teachings which comfort them by saying that it will bring you to Nirvana if you follow it. For Document 1, it is stated that if anyone serves Buddha or follows the commandments correctly, recites Buddhist scriptures, and makes a vow to be...

...DBQBuddhism in China
Morgan Taylor
When Buddhism spread from India to China many different opinions were voiced. Although many people began to gradually convert to it, others felt differently about the new religion. Opinions fluctuated often with some people feeling that Buddhism would be good for the society, to bring the people together in a time of suffering, and others demanding that it be shunned for corrupting the people with foreign ways.
Documents 1,2, 3, and 5 can be grouped together because they all point out the reasons to support Buddhism. The Buddah (who was the founder of Buddhism) discussed “The Four Noble Truths” and that all things in life are driven by sorrow and passion. Because he is the founder of the religion, he obviously supports the traditions. Zhi Dun, an influential Chinese scholar in document 2 states the pleasures of Buddhism and encourages everyone to strive to reach nirvana. At a stressful when the Asian steppe nomads are invading Zhi Dun could have easily declared Buddhism a foreign scheme, but he chose to promote it instead. Because the government structure was weakening and everything the people were used to was falling apart they chose to turn to the new promising ways of Buddhism. Document 3 is similar in the fact that it is also written by a scholar. It also supports the...

...DBQ
In China, when Buddhism spread from India, it was met with mixed results. Buddhism was popular with certain people because it rewarded good deeds and punished the bad, but people didn’t like it because they thought Buddha was false. Some people in china were skeptics of Buddhism because it was started to spread to china late and so they thought it wasn’t right because it was against what they had been taught their whole lives.
A common belief among followers of Buddhism is that Buddhism will lead you to spiritual enlightenment. Buddha said himself that “rebirth brings delight and passion.”(doc. 1) This is a very direct and bias point of view since this is the man that founded the core beliefs of Buddhism. Zhi Dun, who is a Chinese scholar, said that if you “behold the Buddha you will be enlightened in his spirit.” (doc. 2) This is written by a Confucian scholar who is confident of Chinese aristocrats and high officials when China was getting invaded. This particular Chinese scholar could have been looking for a new belief since china was in a state of crisis. A Buddhist scholar named Zong Mi thought that Buddhism was enlightening because it “encourages the perfection of good deeds, punished wicked ones, and rewarded good ones.”(doc. 5) The point of view of Zong Mi was more in favor...

...BuddhismDBQ
Although the fall of The Han and subsequent need for consolation beyond Confucianism led to the spread of Buddhism, it was met with mixed reactions. Being a religion of salvation it was popular with the ordinary citizens, but governments or groups seeking order opposed its unorganized guidelines. Therefore, Buddhism spread greatly during the period of the warring states, when there was no order and there was a need for salvation among the Chinese people.
The first grouping is documents two and five, written by scholars who strongly favor Buddhism. The second was written by scholar, author and aristocratic confidant Zhi Dun circa 350 CE a time of dysfunction and war in China. It praises the benefits of living a Buddhist life, which include entering Nirvana, the level of Enlightenment and the extinction of desire and consciousness, with the ability to behold the Buddha. The fifth is from Zong Mi, leading Buddhist scholar favored by the Tang imperial household early 9th century. It offers that Confucius, Laozi, and the Buddha were perfect sages, and that there philosophies lead to a orderly society. It is unique in that it offers to coexist among the three and intertwine them to perfect society.
The second grouping is those that inform rather than offer persuade. It contains the first document, written by Buddha himself, and the third by an anonymous scholar. In the...

...world so he spent time meditating to sort out his troubles and originally founded the philosophy of Buddhism. He then determined that suffering was the punishment of human desire so he went to spread his beliefs. He then became know as the “enlightened one.” The philosophy soon became a religion that opposed the caste system and encouraged followers to find their divine essence. Buddhism was spread into China by the Silk Road Trade Route in 265 CE and it began its teachings there on. When Buddhism was spread to China in 265 BCE, many nomadic and lower class groups took condolence in the religion’s beliefs while in contrary, many Confucianist leaders/emperors fought against Buddhism in order to preserve the culture and organization that Confucianism withheld in Chinese society.
In Document 1, Buddha is preaching The Four Noble Truths. It preaches that you are born into sorrow and unhappiness and then you begin to have a craving for passion and pleasure, which soon develops into the sorrow stopping so that no craving remains. It ends with how following a simple life and leading “The Way” leads to the end of sorrow. The author is Buddha who created the truths and followed them. The point of view is supporting Buddhism and its ability to give condolence to people in hard times of sorrow, such as slaves or women. However, the POV of Buddha was biased because as the creator of...

...﻿Spread of Buddhism in ChinaDBQ
From the Han dynasty to the Song Dynasty, there were several different views of Buddhism in China. You can see the different reactions through the documents given showing that there are those that oppose it, those that accept it, and those that believe in religious purism.
From the 1st century to the 9th century, the diffusion of Buddhism to China provoked a harsh reaction by high ranking Confucian scholars. The Rejection of Buddhism stems from the foreign nature of Buddhism. Han Yu, a leading Confucian scholar stated that Buddhism is “no more than a cult of Barbarian peoples” (Document 4). Furthermore, Yu describes the Buddha as “a man of barbarians who did not speak Chinese and who wore clothes of a different fashion” (Document 4). In addition, the Tang Emperor Wu states that Buddhism had spread like a “vine until it has poisoned the customs of our nation” (Document 6) Wu’s view of Buddhism could be attributed to the rising tide of Neo-Confucianism.
At 350 C.E. when the Asian steppe nomads invaded China, people lower than the aristocrats needed a sense of comfort so they turned to Buddhism. The acceptance of Buddhism turns to the tradition of the religion as the Chinese scholar, Zhi Dun states that whoever will...

...Mr. Coe Pd. 7 BuddhismDBQ By the first century C.E. Buddhism had begun to spread through China. There were multiple reactions to the spread of Buddhism. While many Chinese accepted, encouraged, and defended Buddhist teaching, others rejected them because they did not comply with ancient Chinese texts and traditions still others questioned the Buddhist teaching within China without rejecting them completely. Many Chinese people during this period of instability and disunity supported Buddhism and its teachings. After the Han Dynasty collapsed there was no central political power. China was ruled by small regional powers that did not provide unity or support to the Chinese people. They were willing to cling to any form of stability, and the Buddhist religion gave them that. Document 2 states that 350 C.E. was a time of sensual pleasures. 350 C.E. was also the time period in which northern China was being invaded my northern steppe nomads. This shows that Buddhist followers were able to see past the terrors that their empire was facing and appreciate life based on the Buddhist teachings. This encouraged others to begin practicing Buddhism. Zhi Dun is a Chinese scholar and author, as well as a confident of Chinese aristocrats and officials. He is obviously high up in the social pyramid and because of that most likely thinks...

...DBQ- Buddhism
When Buddhism first began to spread into china, reactions were mixed. While many people supported the idea, others were neutral, and a large number opposed Buddhism’s growing popularity. The opinions on the spread were not always cultural; many had underlying political origins. Those that supported this idea were typically those left without rights by the old Confucian ideals or people who were looking for an alternate for Confucianism. Some reacted neutrally so as to gain the favor of both sides. On the flip side as Buddhism began to change Confucian values, the people in power turned strictly against the new belief system in an effort to keep ancient tradition.
As Buddhism spread into China, it was highly accepted into an empire looking to have a fresh start and establish a new or different belief system(other than Confucianism) to govern the state through, and many peasants and women supported this because they found welcome in this religion, while many others supported it merely for political gain. Buddha preached of four noble truths, all of which took people and their sorrows and helped them reach enlightenment; he applied his preachings to any person, which lead to popularity and the spread of religion (Doc 1). Zhi Dun, a Buddhist scholar, promoted the practice of Buddhism, referring to enlightenment and Nirvana as examples of Buddhism’s...